hajj ceremony
Religious tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues at the positive level it started last year after the extraordinary two-year period in 2020 and 2021 saw the industry severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with precautionary measures and a series of restrictions imposed measure, which is reflected in the number of pilgrims and pilgrims.
This year’s Hajj season is very different from previous years, especially in light of the goal of Hajj numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, the Kingdom’s measures to facilitate the reception of Rahman’s guests, and ambitious internal developments. Plans and plans to seek record numbers in Saudi Arabia by 2030.
In this context, the Hajj Ministry of Saudi Arabia estimates that it will receive more than 2 million pilgrims this season, according to Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah who said earlier, stressing that the goal is to return numbers to pre-COVID-19 levels. 19 levels, no age limit.
This comes after a special season in which volumes have declined due to the consequences of the corona pandemic and the precautionary measures taken accordingly.
- Last year, the number of pilgrims reached 899,000 and 353, respectively (779,000 and 919 from outside the kingdom), in addition to about 6 million pilgrims.
- In 2021, the number of pilgrims in the Kingdom will only reach 60,000.
- In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of pilgrims from within the Kingdom reached 10,000.
Optimistic that pilgrims will return to pre-pandemic levels, and as religious tourism, especially religious tourism, continues to grow, the Kingdom aims to reach 6 million pilgrims to Mecca in 2017. By 2030, among other things, there will be 30 million Umrah performers during the year.
Local Saudi reports estimate that the potential revenue from Hajj could reach 50 billion riyals by 2030 when vision projects and programs are implemented.
religious tourism
In an exclusive statement on the Sky Arab News website, Saudi economist Salem Bajaja spoke of religious tourism in the Kingdom and the special importance it represents, explaining, “Religion Tourism is the tourism industry that benefits the most from religious tourism”. Kingdom Vision 2030. “
He pointed out that the industry is also a secondary one in terms of job localization. It provides more than 900,000 jobs.
The Kingdom has launched several special projects and programs in the context of serving pilgrims, including the “Serving the Guests of Allah” program.
- The “Serving Guests with Kindness Program” is one of the implementation plans of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
- The program launched in 2019.
- Its purpose is to facilitate the reception of pilgrims of the Two Holy Mosques and to provide them with the best services.
- It also aims to give as many people as possible the opportunity to fully perform the rituals of Hajj and Umrah.
- The program has recently achieved several results. The two most important are the provision of electronic visas for pilgrims and umrah performers from all countries and the extension of the umrah season.
- In addition to comprehensive health insurance, the scheme has rolled out several initiatives including ‘Eyab’, ‘Smart Hajj’ and ‘Umrah without a bag’.
The development of the Kingdom’s “religious tourism” sector is part of an overall tourism effort.
In this context, Baja, in an interview with Sky News Arabia, pointed out that Saudi Arabia has launched a series of plans and programs aimed at implementing many tourism projects. For example, the Tourism Authority issued a decision office to establish a vision realization plan. This is to follow up on the implementation of initiatives raised in this regard.
Examples cited by The Economist include the announcement in 2017 of the creation of the world’s largest entertainment, sports and cultural city in the name of Qiddiya, and projects such as the Red Sea Project that will facilitate the realization of this goal. tourist target.
hajj ceremony
The Kingdom’s goal is to reach 100 million tourists (both domestic and foreign) by 2030 (55 million foreign tourists and 45 million domestic tourists).
- The tourism industry aims to create 1 million jobs by 2030.
- Compared to 2019 before the pandemic, the inbound tourism rate (July, last year’s summer peak) was up 121%.
- The Kingdom expects to receive 93 million tourists in 2022 and close to 8 million in the first quarter of 2023 (according to Fahd Hamid al-Din, CEO and board member of the Saudi Tourism Authority).
Religious tourism is considered an important tributary of tourism in the Kingdom, with the number of Umrah tourists reaching 4 million and 100,000 in the first three months of this year (according to Hamid al-Din).
Vision 2030
Furthermore, Saudi analyst and researcher Fawaz Al-Enezi told Sky News Arab Economics in an exclusive interview that “the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is based on multiple pillars and incorporates religious and social dimension as one of the fundamental pillars of the strategic plan, as the Kingdom is honored to serve Rahman’s guests and visitors to the Holy Land.
He said that according to the target of 30 million pilgrims by 2030, all government ministries and agencies have formulated many goals and strategic plans to provide appropriate services and infrastructure and provide proper education for pilgrims. services and infrastructure. The policies of many ministries – especially the Hajj and Umrah ministries – include it in line with this, and some key points are made in this context:
- Infrastructure development, especially transportation and the use of information technology and digitization.
- A project to expand the campus to accommodate more pilgrims and Umrah performers.
- Invoking the “Rahman Guest” program to provide all services to the pilgrims during the Hajj season for the well-being and satisfaction of the pilgrims going to the Holy House and the Prophet’s Mosque.
- To provide services for pilgrims and umrah performers not only upon their arrival in the kingdom but also from the embassy by providing facilities such as issuing visas.
A dedicated on-site team ensures the movement of worshipers inside the Prophet’s Mosque
He explained that the Kingdom’s main objective is to benefit from strengthening its position and provide everything it has to serve Rahman’s guests, while referring to plans related to introducing the Kingdom’s tourist destinations and guiding pilgrims and tourists . Umrah performers learn about different regions in cultural programs.
Mecca has authorized 440,000 hotel rooms to accommodate pilgrims, with capacity for 1.9 million pilgrims, Osama Al-Zaytouni, official spokesman for the holy city government, said in a media statement.
Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib announced at a monthly meeting with investors last month that the Kingdom had allocated more than 600 million riyals to introduce its tourism destinations, he revealed , Saudi Arabia had the highest quarterly rate of all-purpose visitors from outside Saudi Arabia, with approximately 7.5 million visitors.